Improvement in canal-boat propellers



J. TASCHE'R. CANAL-BOAT PROPELLER.

N0. 193,196. Patented July 17, 1877.

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UNITED STATES OFFICE.

JACOB T'ASCHER, OF CENTRAL CITY, COLORADO.

IMPROVEMENT IN CANAL-BOAT PROPELLERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 193,196, dated July 17,1877; application fil-ed J une 8, 1877.

To all whom 'it may concern.-

Beit known that I, JACOB TASOHER, of Central City, in the county ofGilpin and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Device for Propelling Canal-Boats, of which the following is aspecification:

This invention has for its object the construction of a propellingapparatus for movtion of a boat tted with the improved pro-` pellingapparatus. same.

The boat A may be of the usual or any approved form of construction fornavigation on canals.

Across this boat will be placed a drivingshaft, B, which will be rotatedby any suitable motor. This shaft will be provided with a series of .twoor more cranks, b, to which the propellingrods C will be coupled bymeans of suitable wrist-joint connections.

The rods C will be two or more in number, and each of them will consistof three pieces, c c1 c2. The rst of these, c, forms a connecting-rod,which couples the inner end of the rod cl with the crank b of thedriving-shaft.

The rod c1 forms the principal part of the length of the rod C, andpasses through the guid es D,which are fixed in the stern ofthe boat.These rods cl are given a direct reciprocating motion by means of theshaft B and the connecting-rods c1, and the guides D hold them properlyin their positions relatively to the boat.

Fig. 2 is a plan of the The guides D, with their inclosed rods, are setat an inclined angle with the longitudinal axis ofthe boat, as shown inFig. 1, so as to cause their outer ends to project downwardly toward thebottom of the canal.

The guides D are preferably made cylindrical in form and water-tightcircumferentially, and fixed water-tightly to the stern of the boat,through which they pass, so that should they become submerged no waterwill enter through or around them to the interior of the boat. v

To the exterior end of the rod c1 is jointed the propelling-piece c2,which is jointed to the piece c1, so it may be moved, as indicated bythe dotted lines of Fig. 1, so as to accommodate itself automatically tothe asperities of the bottom of the canal.

On the llower end of the pieces c1 are jointed foot-pieces C', arrangedto press atwise against the canal-bottom, to prevent. the rods sinkinginto the soft earth. The jointing of thesepieces to the rods c2 permitsthem to be withdrawn readily through the water without unnecessaryfriction.

In operation these rods will be successively placed against thecanal-bottom, asin the act of walking a persons feet are moved.

The foot-pieces C' are intended to be made broad and dat, somewhat likea ducks feet, and when the depth of the water in the canal is too greatto permit their touching the bottom they will press against the waterlike a paddle, and so act to propel the boat forward. Having describedmy invention, I claim- The propelling-rod C,formed in sections c cl c2,and having a broad foot-piece, C', at its outer end, while the rod Cpasses through the guide D in a sloping direction, and receives areciprocating motion from the driving-shaft B, as and for the purposedescribed and set forth.

JACOB TASCHER.

Witnesses:

M. A. ARNOLD, I CHASE WITHRow.

